Sunday, November 20, 2016

AN ATM AND AN X-RAY MACHINE AT HOME

“We
are rich,” beamed Kannan this morning in our Tai Chi class. Obviously, the
topic of discussion, today, was the cash crunch.

“You know
what,” Kannan explained, “I had this old Jewish habit of putting a small amount
– rupees 5, 10, 20, 50 whatever – into a box and forget about it. Last week, when
everyone around me was crying for cash and cursing Government, banks and ATMs,
I quietly opened my box… and behold, it had over nine thousand rupees… It was
like a treasure… We are rich!”

I smiled when
I heard this new story from Kannan. Just a few days before the demonetization was
announced, I had taken out the drawer of my wardrobe for cleaning up. I had not
taken it out for years… As I cleared the piles of unwanted stuff, I was pleasantly
surprised to find inside hundreds of rupees 5 and 10 coins. Unlike Kannan, I
had not placed those coins there consciously… Instead, I had left them there
casually without realizing that, one day, they might come handy when all the big
notes turned dud!

Yes, when I
counted those coins of rupees 5 and 10, I, too, felt like a king!

All along
these years, I had taken those coins for granted… Just as we all take water for
granted… Someone has to drop us in a desert… to grasp the value of those few
drops of water left!

So, no blame…
Only glory to whoever emptied my ATM!

Then,
there was another story from Kannan, today… A very familiar story that was. It
was about ‘reflection’ and ‘image’… rather, the mirror image and X-ray image. “If
you stand before the mirror and smile, it will only smile back at you… You will
only see what you like to see… Mirror will not show you what you need to see,” Kannan
said, “but, the X-ray image can show you what you do not like to see… yes, it
can show you what you need to see.”

“My wife will
not smile back at me like a mirror does when I ask her if everything is fine
with me,” Kannan put it forthrightly, “She is the only one in my life who can
tell me what is wrong with me… just like an X-ray image.”

We men – and women
too – out there could relate to what Kannan was saying.

Only our
nearest and dearest ones can honestly tell us how we really are… We were all laughing…
For, we knew how true it was!

“If you really
want to grow, don’t ask the mirror for a reflection,” Kannan concluded, “Ask
the X-ray machine for an image!”

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THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS

About Me

'Passionate about Life.'... That's how I see myself. For me, the term 'passion' has a special meaning. It is living life with its totality... With all its hues and confusions, with all its triumphs and defeats.
I consider myself as a little kid, still groping in the dark -- trying to find a way out of this great maze. Sometimes, I wonder: whether there is a way out at all? Whether the maze itself is the way?
Thus, as a kid awe-struck by this amazing mystery called LIFE, I have a lot to share with my fellow kids. I believe, it would be an exciting and fulfilling journey, each morning...
I am, indeed, looking forward to each dawn, with fresh eyes... And my fresh note to share...
Love,
GERALD D'CUNHA